THALIDOMIDE victim Louise Medus was at the centre of the fight for justice for hundreds of youngsters who were born disabled as a result of the drug scandal.

Her dad, David Mason, led the campaign to secure compensation for parents whose babies were born deformed, because their mums took the once trusted medication during pregnancy in the 1960s.

But Louise, from Cheltenham, who was born with no arms or legs in 1962, did not just have to learn how to cope with her disabilities.

The 46 year-old mum-of-two claims she was also raped as a teenager, and suffered years of abuse in a medical institution where her family abandoned her aged four.

She says she was subjected to a series of medical experiments at the unit and was once forced to sleep rough due to being estranged from her family.

And when she thought she had found happiness when she married and had children, she later realised her then husband had cheated on her with her carer and left her.

Louise has kept silent about her abuse for years, but believes she is now strong enough to tell the public the truth about her life.

Immediately after she was born she said her parents took her straight from hospital to Chailey Heritage Institution in East Essex.

Louise said her mum, Vicki, and dad were told they would be unable to care for a child so disabled, and this was routine for thalidomide victims.

But Louise said she felt abandoned by them at the school.

She said her parents used to visit her on a regular basis when her dad was campaigning for compensation.

As part of the campaign she was pictured with various celebrities, including singers Cliff Richard and Olivia Newton John and footballer Mike England.

But she said once the photographers went away, so did her family.

David took the drug company Distillers to court and won an out-of-court settlement of more than £26 million in 1973 to be shared between the thalidomide victims.

But he stopped regularly visiting her when her grandfather became ill and she only saw her family during holidays in 1966.

“You always want what you don’t have,” says Louise. “If you’re poor, you want to be rich, if you’re tall, you want to be short.

“Throughout my life, I haven’t had a stable family and that’s what I’ve always so, so, so much wanted.

“As a kid, it was great meeting famous people like Cliff Richard and Rod Stewart as part of the campaign, and I felt proud of my dad, but as soon as the photographers went away, I was taken straight back to Chailey.

“I remember every Sunday how everyone else’s parents would arrive one by one and I didn’t have anyone. I felt lost.

“Understanding the reasons why things happened the way they did in my childhood brings forgiveness. but it doesn’t stop the hurt.

“Over the years I developed what I think of as a little cupboard inside me where I put all my hurt emotions in. I shut the door firmly because I know that I’ve been hurt too many times to be able to risk letting all those memories come tumbling out.”

At the age of 13, Louise claims she was raped by a boy who lived at Chailey, but she says staff chose to ignore the situation.

Meanwhile, she said ‘experiments’ were carried out on the children.

She said she was forced to strip in front of doctors as they measured her limbs to see how her body was developing, which made her feel embarrassed.

She said she had to wear artificial legs which she found uncomfortable and was always worried about falling over.

Louise reflects: “In hindsight, the medical staff needed to know what was going on as nothing like thalidomide had happened before. It was curiosity more than anything and the way society did things then.

“Nowadays if a child said ‘no’, it would mean no but we were just told to stop messing around.”

When Louise left Chailey at 17, she said her parents wanted her to move into a home for disabled adults.

But the fiercely independent young woman went to the National Star Centre in Cheltenham, a specialist college for people with disabilities, instead.

This meant she had nowhere to go during the holidays.

One time she ended up so desperate she spent two nights sleeping rough on the streets.

“When I see people on the streets now, I’ll often buy them a coffee because I know what it’s like,” she says. “I never told my parents about that, I was too proud because I wanted to show them I could be independent,” she said.

It was at during another college course that she met her first husband John, who was partially-sighted.

At last, Louise was able to enjoy a proper family life when the couple married in 1987 and went on to have a daughter Emma and son Jack, who are perfectly able-bodied.

She said she has tried to achieve as much in her life as people who have not suffered disabilities.

As well as getting married and having children she has worked in insurance and learnt to drive an adapted car.

“Because of the way I was brought up, my parental instincts weren’t very strong so I read every book there was about babies,” says Louise.

“I had the cot adapted to table top height so I could put Emma to bed myself, and I had my wheelchair altered so she could safely ride in a kind of highchair in front of me and that’s how we went for walks.

“I would undo the tape on her nappies with my teeth. I found a way of lying across an armchair with pillows to support her so I could breast-feed.

“I kept her in a baby carrier on my chest when she was little. We were inseparable, and it was the same when Jack was born.

“But I always had to have a carer to help to lift them on and off the floor, and help at bath time which I found really hard as splashing around in the bath is such a joyful time to share.”

As her children grew older, Louise had to teach them not to copy mummy as she used her head to switch the lights on and off and her teeth to hold a pencil whilst colouring.

Louise explained her condition to her children from a very young age.

But her happiness was devastated when she discovered John had been having an affair with their carer.

There was a dreadful scene when she confronted him and he told the carer to leave her marooned in a car.

“I wriggled out of the car and started crawling down the road. You do mad things when you’re devastated.

“John realised what was happening, lugged me back to the car, shoved me in and locked it.”

Later when Louise was back in the house, the reality set in.

“I managed to get myself together enough to feed Emma and Jack and put them to bed then I lay down and cried for hours, bucketing down with tears.”

Incredibly, Louise has managed to forgive John and he still plays an active part in his children’s lives.

Louise’s devoted children are now 20 and 17. Emma is studying sport physiotherapy at university and Jack is at college and living with his mum.

Happily, Louise has found love again with an old sweetheart and fellow thalidomide survivor Darren Mansell, 47, who was born with no arms.

The couple married last August.

Darren works as a finance officer for West Midlands Police and has two children, Stacey and Natalie, from his previous marriage.

“I’ve loved Louise since we first met,” says Darren.

“When we met up, it was just like before. We had the same connection we always had.”

Louise is now a trustee on the Thalidomide Society and a youth leader for Woodcraft, an educational movement for young people, which aims to build a world based on equality, friendship, peace and co-operation. She also lectures in schools.

She fought to get a job when she was younger and actively campaigned to ensure better access for people with disabilities.

Unfortunately her kidney condition, a genetic illness inherited from her mother, and nothing to do with thalidomide, makes it difficult for her to work now although she says she ‘would love a job.’

“I’ve always felt I had to prove myself. When someone told me I couldn’t do something, I felt I had to prove them wrong.

“There’s no point in feeling sorry for yourself because you have no arms and legs. Everyone has problems, you just have to get on with it.”

Louise’s dad David declined to comment on his daughter’s claims that she felt abandoned as a child.

Simon Yates, the current head of Chailey Heritage School today, said: “Chailey Heritage has, for the last 10 years, been a leading light for child protection for children and young people with disabilities.

“We’ve been nationally published on safeguarding children and are pioneers in protecting children, particularly those who cannot speak or run away.

“We’ve developed strategies and guidelines that have been used by lots of schools across the country.

“I would say Chailey has changed hugely since Louise was here and I cannot comment on her experiences.”